If you truly believe that sports and politics don’t mix – that athletes should shut up and dribble and those in the media who cover them should stick to writing articles about blitzes, power-plays and home runs – then we’ll give you a minute here to gather up and move along.
Still here, some of you?
OK, thank you.
Look, we may differ on many aspects of this subject, but of this there is no debate: what’s happening across sports right now is both compelling and powerful.
A number of games in different sports leagues have been postponed this week in a show of solidarity as athletes stand up and use their voices to be heard about racism and social injustices.
These aren’t single individual acts, either, and that’s what gives the movement momentum.
As historic as the moment was, this is different than when Jackie Robinson broke the colour barrier 40 years ago.
This is different than Muhammad Ali opposing the Vietnam War by declaring himself a conscientious objector, being stripped of the heavyweight boxing title while declaring, ‘I ain’t got no quarrel with them Viet Cong.’
This is different than Tommie Smith and Juan Carlos raising black-gloved fists during the playing of the U.S. national them while on the medal podium at the 1968 Olympics in what Smith referred to as a ‘human rights’ salute.
These are moments where entire leagues are opting to step away or are gathering to spread a message to end racism. It’s a collection of athletes using their platforms to be heard and to bring about change.
And make no mistake, they are being heard.
Watching it all unfold from his home in Orlando this week has been Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive back Brandon Alexander, who previously offered his own personal account of a harrowing experience with racism on our site not long after the murder of George Floyd in late May.
Sadly, just a few months later yours truly reached out to him again this week for his thoughts on another incident with similar circumstances – a black man, Jacob Blake, being shot by police. That was then followed by 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse killing two people during the ensuing Black Lives Matter protests.
“To me, the weird thing about this situation is how only now are some people really starting to see it,” began Alexander. “We’ve known this has been going on for a long time. Even now that it’s prevalent on social media and there for everyone to see, it’s like it doesn’t even matter. It still goes on. It still happens. It’s blatant. And what’s also blatant is no one is getting in trouble for it.
“Who is doing something about it? We don’t have our leader – our quote-unquote leader – in President Trump come out and even say anything about it. Why not?
“We’re fighting this fight by ourselves. I’m not just saying people of colour, it’s anybody who stands with us.”
This is where sports and politics do mix and must mix.
“I had this conversation with somebody two days ago. I won’t mention his name, respectfully, but we had a wonderful conversation,” said Alexander. “One of the things he said was sports and politics really don’t mix. I’ve heard that from a lot of people, not just him.
“But in our community, our leaders or the people we look up to play sports or do music. A lot of them. We grow up watching these guys or listening to them because basketball, football and music is what we grow up on. That’s what drives millions and millions of dollars in revenue in the U.S. That’s important here.
“So when you have guys who are big time, like LeBron James or Jay-Z, the people we look up to because they are our skin colour… what happens if they do shut-up and not do anything? A lot of people will do the same exact thing. So when they come out, sports has to be mixed with politics.
“It’s a double-edged sword, though,” added Alexander. “What has happened this week is important, but I want sports to go on. It’s not just about LeBron, because we’re going to hear from him whether games are played or not. We’re going to hear from James Harden or Chris Paul because they are big time. But you’re not going to hear from George Hill or a Patrick Beverley or even Doc Rivers because they aren’t as prominent and if they’re not playing those voices don’t get heard. The reporters on TV have a voice and it’s not just about sports any more. The guys like Chuck, Shaq, Kenny and all those guys on there, they have a voice now.
“I think it’s a beautiful thing that they are standing up because it’s making other people make a decision – whether you are going to follow suit or go in another direction.”
More on Alexander’s thoughts:
1. Interestingly, what has happened this week comes four years this week since Colin Kaepernick sat, then later kneeled during the national anthem before a San Francisco 49ers games.
I asked Alexander if he was frustrated about that, about how Kaepernick’s decision seems like an eternity ago and how he was then vilified and criticized by so many while seeing his playing career vanish as a consequence.
“I’ve heard people say that we need change today. Or tomorrow,” said Alexander. “But it’s like the saying ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day.’ And God did not create the whole universe in one day.
“It’s going to take time, but it has to start with something and it does start at the top and trickles down. If it starts at the bottom, nobody hears or sees you or knows who you are. But when you’re at the top and you do say something, people hear it. That’s why I’m happy to see so many athletes and musicians using their voices.”
Jean-Baptiste, an American of Haitian descent, finishes his statement with:
“… this is a world issue. Blacks, Aboriginals, Muslims, immigrants and members of the LBGTQ community have been mistreated and profiled and killed for being nothing less than who they are. Killed or beaten by people who don’t agree with who they are, or by the very people who are meant to protect us.
“We aren’t asking you to put us on a pedestal, or hierarchy of society. We are asking you to give us the benefit of the doubt, to be treated equally and not assume that we are capable of a crime or give us a more severe punishment because of the colour of our skin or religious beliefs.
“We are asking just to be equal. Judge me because of my character and not because of the colour of my skin, religion or sexual orientation. Help by any means to bring justice to the family and friends that lost a brother, mother, sister or father to people’s hateful ideologies. Don’t turn a blind eye just because this doesn’t affect you.
“Stand with us to fight for these families. Do what’s right and be on the right side of history.”
Well said.
3. It’s impossible to know what CFL Players might have done in support of Black Lives Matter and the fight to end racism if they were on the field this year, given the cancellation of the season.
But you can bet it would have been just as powerful, thanks to voices like Alexander and others in the Bombers dressing room and across the league.
The CFLPA did tweet this in a show of support on Thursday:
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.
Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.
A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”
Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.
“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.
In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”
“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”
Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.
Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.
Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.
“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.
“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.
“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.
“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”
NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”
“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.
Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.
She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.
Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.
Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.
The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.
Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.
“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.
“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”
The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.
In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.
“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”
In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.
“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”
Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.
Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.
“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”
In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.
In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.
“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”
Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.
“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”
The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.
“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.
“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
